


Pendulum

by EvilRobotCat



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:02:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29306172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilRobotCat/pseuds/EvilRobotCat
Summary: Ever focused on the future, Reeve's only interest in the past is the technology left behind.  The only way he knows is forward.  The chance discovery of an Ancient machine buried deep under a mountain presents another option, and Reeve is hurled backward instead.
Relationships: Reeve Tuesti/Vincent Valentine
Comments: 10
Kudos: 24





	Pendulum

The sun had not set, but the chill of night had already crept into the narrow tunnel carved into the base of the mountain. Large, violent-looking machines crowded outside the mouth like sleeping monsters. Metal teeth that once cut through solid rock had rusted away to brittle shards, and the vats of gasoline that powered them were putrid with age.  
  
Short, scrubby trees grew through the roof of the cabin that housed Shinra's excavation crew decades ago. Another crew had taken their place, dressed in WRO uniforms. While scouring the planet for new resources, they had stumbled into this site by accident. What they found inside the tunnel had reached the ears of their commissioner, and he'd made a trip to personally inspect it.  
  
"It's remarkable that Shinra abandoned this place," Reeve said as he wandered deeper into the winding darkness. "I couldn't find a single record of it existing in the old files."  
  
"It was likely bad timing," Vincent said with the same dry monotone he gave to every one of Reeve's pet projects. "Those drills outside are from my father's time. After the breakthrough in mako refinement, Shinra concentrated on that and stamped out all its competitors in both mako and oil."  
  
"You call it a breakthrough," Reeve scoffed idly.  
  
Only in Vincent's presence would he indulge in the prideful sentiments of his youth. His well-intended developments had made life safer and more convenient for mankind, but at the expense of the planet's lifespan. How many hundreds, perhaps thousands of years had been stolen from the planet because of mako? If given the chance again, would Reeve have looked in the eyes of those people who'd lost everything to failed reactors and denied them safer ones?  
  
This sort of dark introspection always drew commentary from Vincent's counterpart, but this evening only the Turk himself kept Reeve company. He recognized the wistful sorrow in Reeve's eyes, but he never offered comfort or criticism, only quiet respect.  
  
At last Reeve sighed and returned his focus to the tunnel walls. The stone had once been uniform, and elaborately decorated with carved words and murals. Most were scrubbed away by the drills now rusting outside.  
  
"It's pretty clear this wasn't a mission to preserve history. The Ancients' words were pretty cryptic, but they could've given us some insight to what this thing was used for."  
  
"The report said most of the words were 'beware' and 'tread with fear'," Vincent pointed out.  
  
"Did it? I must have forgotten."  
  
"You're usually a better liar. The more the Ancients forbid something, the more attractive you find it."  
  
Half a smirk returned to Reeve's sorrowful features. And people said Vincent lacked a sense of humor.  
  
As the sun sank further behind the mountain, no more light made its way into the tunnel. But the commissioner and his Turk were not left in darkness. What remained of the ancient murals responded to the night with an eerie glow. The images and symbols had been painted with a bio-luminescent resin made by a technique long forgotten. Scholars had identified the source of the glow as magicite, but Shinra's scientists never managed to reproduce the effect - if they'd even tried. Glow-in-the-dark walls weren't needed in a world blessed by electricity.  
  
No historian himself, Reeve could only look at the glowing images with a naive fascination. Two steps behind him, Vincent regarded them with less appreciation. He would likely have to save Reeve from whatever secret these symbols warned against. And yet he hadn't refused when Reeve announced they would be making this trip. Reeve wondered if Vincent privately enjoyed playing the hero now and then.  
  
Several yards in, the symbols shifted from the language of the Cetra to something completely unknown to modern scholars. The tunnel opened into a large room lit entirely by the luminescent resin. Columns of stone supported the ceiling along the walls and around a circular platform. A cache of scrolls littered one side of the room, too brittle to unroll and read. Did they contain the mundane activities of the people who'd built this shrine, or some forbidden knowledge? That was not Reeve's mystery to solve. No, the reason he'd come here personally was the entire far wall of the room.  
  
Between two pillars hung a giant stone wheel. It spun slowly, as if it had not received the message that its creators had given up on it countless years ago. The excavation team had not determined what powered the cogs that made it spin, nor the purpose of the row of materia that sat before it.  
  
"Amazing," Reeve sighed with something akin to reverence. "To see the photos... but this is..."  
  
Reeve's hands were warm with excitement. Vincent reached for his shoulder, but Reeve was already inside the room, touching every surface without fear. With an uncomfortable frown, Vincent positioned himself to keep an eye on both the engineer and the entrance leading back to the tunnel. No force of the planet could shake Reeve from his thoughts until he was ready to come up for air. At least Vincent could ensure his safety in the meantime.  
  


* * *

  
  
"The entire room," Reeve murmured. "We're inside some kind of ancient machine."  
  
His empty stomach told him several hours had passed since he'd begun his exploration, but he had no idea what time it was. He'd fiddled with every loose stone, and probed deeper with that secret skill only he possessed.  
  
Behind the walls were gears and pipes where water flowed to power the giant wheel on the back of the room. The heart of the ancient machine was the platform in the center of the room. Every pipe, every chute ultimately led to it. Whatever this ancient machine did, it affected the pedestal.  
  
"If this place had been powered by the Lifestream, it would have had a tremendous register," Reeve said without expecting a reply. As much as Reeve hung on every word of Vincent's emotional poetry, Vincent found peaceful emptiness in Reeve's lectures on technology. Accustomed to the silence, he continued. "It's just water. But why? Could the Ancients have worshiped water before they discovered the Lifestream?"  
  
"Maybe it was some kind of offshoot cult."  
  
Reeve startled at Vincent's words.  
  
"Oh! Hello there, Vincent."  
  
Vincent smiled and huffed through his nose.  
  
"Hello, yourself. Well? How does it work?"  
  
Reeve looked around the room and scratched his chin.  
  
"I don't think it worked to begin with. They must have expected the water to have some kind of effect, and when it didn't, they boarded the whole thing up and moved on. The only question left is what they meant for it to do."  
  
"Communion with the dead," Vincent supplied. "I read the scrolls while you fondled the walls."  
  
"I wasn't fondling- Vincent, you _didn't!"_  
  
The evidence of Vincent's crime lay at his feet. Fully aware they would break, he had opened up scroll after scroll and arranged the pieces like a puzzle.  
  
"If this thing was part of a ritual sacrifice, I wanted to know before you turned it on."  
  
"Hm?" Reeve raised an eyebrow. "Is that something you want to try?"  
  
Vincent looked away. "I'll leave that to _him._ The words on the scrolls are summoning spells and hymns of remembrance. Some are a language Chaos doesn't know."

“That isn't saying much,” Reeve shrugged. “He claims to love humankind, but he never paid much attention to us.”

“He has a cruel way of showing that love,” Vincent grumbled.

Reeve picked over the fragile remains of the scrolls.  
  
"So they were trying to reach out to their ancestors," Reeve concluded softly. If he could have spoken with his mother one last time, seen her face, alive and healthy, just for a few minutes... Some pain was universal across the ages. "I wonder how it would have worked."  
  
He returned to the wheel and gave it an experimental tug. It slowed to a halt, then moved in reverse. Behind the walls, the water continued to flow. Pressure built against the wheel's resistance. Reeve pushed the wheel further back. The pressure increased. When he let go the wheel slowly turned forward again. There was no change. Of course. The thing ran on water pressure, not mako.  
  
Reeve moved to the platform and stood in the center. It vibrated from the rocking of the pipes underneath. The wheel continued to pick up speed. The magicite resin glowed brighter.  
  
"They probably meant to have someone stand here," Reeve said thoughtfully.  
  
"I don't think I like you standing on it."  
  
"We've established there's no mako here," Reeve dismissed Vincent's warning. "It's nothing but a giant water wheel."  
  
"That's still a source of power," Vincent pointed out.  
  
"Only if the power's used to _do_ something. Otherwise all you have is an endless but completely useless supply of kinetic- What's happening?"  
  
The resin-coated walls pulsed, then faded to complete darkness. In less than a second, the glow returned. The wheel spun faster, and a quick glance around revealed the letters and symbols on the walls had been rearranged. The slow trickle of unseen water grew louder.  
  
"Get down from there," Vincent ordered, an uncharacteristic edge in his voice.  
  
Vincent took a step toward the pedestal. Reeve moved closer to its edge, eager to meet him.  
  
The pedestal jerked under Reeve's feet and threw him off balance, just as the light faded sharply to black. The glow throbbed like a heartbeat. Every flash of light revealed new symbols and images. The water roared behind the walls and drowned out Reeve's shout of alarm. The room itself changed shape - no, the pedestal had begun to rotate at a dizzying speed. Spinning before him Reeve saw the wheel, the tunnel, the columns... where was Vincent?  
  
Dizzy, Reeve pulled himself to his feet, only to fall again. He whipped his head around, trying to catch sight of the Turk. All he managed was a flash of red in the corner of his eye before darkness overtook them both again. Reeve's stomach flopped and he lowered his gaze to the stone pedestal to reorient himself. The room spun faster around him - or wasn't _he_ the one spinning?  
  
All at once the light flashed bright enough to blind him. Reeve closed his eyes against it. Behind his eyelids he could sense the fall of darkness, and then a sudden unnatural stillness.  
  
Had the machine stopped? There should have been the screech of stone and the sound of water retreating to wherever it went after passing below the pedestal. More unsettling was Reeve's sense of loneliness. With the machine at rest, Vincent should be at his side, either to berate him for his foolishness after a false alarm or to drag him away from whatever danger he'd just released. Still kneeling, Reeve put a hand to his forehead. He was conscious, that much he knew, but he was afraid to open his eyes.  
  
"Hey. Can you stand?"  
  
Reeve let out a heavy sigh of relief.  
  
_"Vincent."_

Reeve opened his eyes and looked up. Vincent hovered just before him, concern in his eyes.  
  
"Yes, I'm-" Reeve rose to shaky feet. "Oh..."  
  
Nausea swirled in his stomach that had nothing to do with the machine. His instincts screamed that something was horribly wrong, but nothing was out of place. The machine had stopped without harming either of them. Reeve must have fainted, and that was why he hadn't heard it happen. Vincent's frown was proof that they were safe. Both spoke at the same time.  
  
"It was pretty foolish to test without- I'm sorry?"  
  
"I said, how do you know my name?"  
  
"Vincent?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why wouldn't I?" Reeve laughed nervously.  
  
It was off. It was _wrong._ What _was_ it?  
  
Vincent's frown deepened. Many found the sight threatening. Reeve had long ago learned it was a sign of Vincent's confusion. He was surprisingly easy to read - and to control, once someone knew the secret.  
  
"I think I've seen enough of this place for one night," Reeve said. "Let's get some fresh air."  
  
After a moment of silent worry, Vincent asked, "You're sure you can walk?"  
  
"I'm fine," Reeve insisted. He wobbled a little, then took a few steps toward the tunnel.  
  
Wrong. Something was _wrong._  
  
_What was wrong?_  
  
The murals on the walls were dark, but now they had the pale hint of sunrise to guide them out of the mountain.  
  
"I'll have my crew take another look at that magicite resin," Reeve said as they walked. "True, it's weaker than mako, but I think Shinra made a mistake to completely overlook it. If anything, learning what failed here might give us a better understanding of the Ancients' technology we use today."  
  
"You... work with mako?" Vincent's hesitance was endearing. Reeve laughed again.  
  
"We're not going back to the old ways, Vincent."  
  
"Of course. I'm- I was out of line."  
  
They stepped out of the tunnel and Reeve breathed deeply. Trees and grass, and the cool light of morning.  
  
"Even if it was a waste of time to come here, this site is fascinating," Reeve said. "Those Ancients were truly something. It's a wonder they all died out."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Sir?" Reeve held in a snort of amusement and turned to look at Vincent. Like a blast of cold air from the mountain, the nausea in his stomach spread out across his entire body and swirled at the ends of his limbs.  
  
Vincent took a step toward him.  
  
"Is something wrong?"  
  
"No... no, just." Reeve touched his forehead again. _His forehead_ \- no, he couldn't think about- "I must still be dizzy, that's all."  
  
He swayed heavily under the pressure of - what was it? _What was it?!_ It was right in front of him, and he couldn't _see_ it! Reeve swallowed back against a knot in his throat.  
  
"I'd better get back into town and have a chat with the doctor."  
  
"The manor is closer," Vincent suggested. "You look awful - with all due respect. Anyway, the... the doctor is there now. He rarely goes into town anymore."  
  
"What?"  
  
The word left Reeve's mouth... didn't it? No, it was only a moan as he collapsed. Vincent lunged forward to catch him before he hit the ground, and Reeve's world shattered like brittle glass over a fire.  
  
The moment Vincent touched him, Reeve _knew._ Those hands that knew every inch of his body, this man that Reeve knew better than anyone on the entire planet. How could he have not known _this?_  
  
Reeve's breaths came heavy and fast. He was hyperventilating, he knew _that_ at least. Above him Vincent spoke with alarm, but the words didn't reach him. How long had they been standing there talking to each other as if nothing was wrong? How could Reeve have overlooked this?  
  
Reeve grasped Vincent's left hand. Metal, there should be metal, and fine points that scraped _just so,_ and the sensation of Chaos lying underneath, waiting for his turn to play.  
  
There was only skin. Skin Reeve had never touched in his life.  
  
Hair too short in the back. A forehead bare but for the long bangs he was too shy to cut. A suit, severe black with a bright Shinra pin at the collar.

Reeve's hand shook around Vincent's. He groaned loudly, but he couldn't drown out his thoughts.  
  
"I'm taking you back with me," Vincent said urgently. "Lucre- Dr Crescent has some medical skills."  
  
"I know."  
  
What Reeve didn't know was if he would cry or vomit. Vincent still didn't know what was wrong _._ How could he, when he didn't even know who Reeve was?

Vincent was a man in his 20s, a Turk of Shinra Company.

And Reeve...

Where did that put Reeve?

**Author's Note:**

> A few years ago I drew a silly comic in which Reeve travels back to his days at Shinra and effortlessly saves the world because nobody suspects him of taking out his fellow board members with poisoned cookies. Well, that would be too easy. What if he was sent to a time and place where he had no power? We're going to find out.


End file.
